UEFA Champions League
Gerrard certain of Reds chances
Afp, London
Steven Gerrard has insisted that Liverpool are capable of overturning a 1-0 first leg deficit against Chelsea to clinch a second Champions League final spot in three years.Joe Cole's first-half goal at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday has left the Premiership champions as slight favourites to go through to the Athens showpiece, whether either Manchester United or AC Milan will be waiting for the winners. But Reds skipper Gerrard, who has enjoyed so many memorable nights at Anfield, is confident that next Tuesday can be another one to savour for Rafael Benitez's squad. "Chelsea have got the advantage and obviously we'd have liked a better result to take back to Anfield, but we're not down yet. It's still game on," Gerrard said. "If we score first at Anfield we could be in for a very good second leg. "They're happy with the result, but they'll have to show us a lot of respect in the second leg because they know it's not over." Liverpool will be buoyed by memories of their 1-0 win at Anfield when the two sides met at the same stage of the competition two years ago, as well as by their 2-0 win there in this season's Premiership fixture. Gerrard argued: "They've witnessed the atmosphere at Anfield before and they know we're capable of beating them at Anfield, as we've done before and shown in the Premiership this season. "It's half-time. We would have preferred a better scoreline, but it's not over." Gerrard came close to equalising for Liverpool on Wednesday when his volley was turned away superbly by Petr Cech, but overall Chelsea were worthy winners and might easily have put the contest beyond doubt. The England midfielder admitted: "We dominated possession in the second half without creating chances, although their keeper has pulled off a top save from my volley. "I don't think any other keeper in Europe would have saved that because I was already thinking I was away to celebrate. "The manager told us to be more positive in the second half and said we hadn't kept the ball positively enough. "He wanted us to hurt them more, but we're confident we can do that at Anfield with the crowd behind us. "We'll raise the tempo and the first 20 minutes will be important. If we score first, let's see what happens then."
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